foreshortening

In painting and drawing, the application of perspective to a single object or figure to create the illusion of projection or depth. It mimics the shortened appearance of a form when it is not perpendicular to the line of sight, for instance an arm held out to the viewer will look shorter, and the hand larger, than an arm held straight down by the side. Foreshortening heightens three-dimensional effect and often gives dramatic emphasis.

The technique of foreshortening can first be seen in the decoration of Greek vases (c. 500 BC), but was not developed until the Renaissance. The Italian painter Andreas Mantegna includes some of the first examples of foreshortening from below in his Camera degli Sposi (c. 1474). Although the figures are very short, the use of perspective enables the viewer to recognize that in real life they would be taller.

Foreshortening techniques were fully exploited in the illusionism of the baroque period (17th–mid-18th centuries).